Virat Kohli will be a tough cookie to crack, reckons former Australia cricketer Ian Healy. He thinks the former Indian captain has plenty left him in and, given his record in Australia, shouldn’t be taken lightly. Healy feels Aussie bowlers shouldn’t give him long enough to settle in the India vs Australia 1st Test and go hard at him from the get-go in Perth.
Virat Kohli, LBW candidate
To tackle Kohli, Healy detailed a plan. He feels there are three obvious weaknesses in his game and Aussie quicks: Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood should go after these to get him out cheaply. At this point, everyone knows that Kohli slashes at ball outside off, and Healy wants the Aussies to bowl there, but with a slight change in plan. He feels they should bowl wide to him not because he’ll edge from there but to instead get him trapped in front.
“I wonder if the Australian (bowlers) can suss out any tentativeness in his technique and if he’s being overcautious, not watching the ball, and playing his shots. That’s when they might be able to attack him with his front pad, not far enough outside the line, and get an LBW chance,” Healy said on SEN Cricket.
Bounce Kohli out in India vs Australia 1st Test
We saw William O’Rourke get Kohli out with a short one in Bengaluru, and Healy reckons the Aussie pace attack can do the same. He wants Starc, Cummins, and Hazlewood to target his shoulder and force him to either hit out or get caught in the 30-yard circle while fending it off.
“Keep the ball away from Virat Kohli so that he wants to come and hit the ball. Then you fire the impact ball into the front pad, which has become stationary once again. If his footwork is flowing and he’s not tentative, then I can go body-bashing. I’ve got the back should in mind. I want him playing an uncontrolled hook or pull. I’ll definitely have a short leg for him in Perth.”
Virat Kohli’s Test record in Australia
| Matches | Runs | Average | 50s | 100s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1352 | 54.08 | 6 | 4 |
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